Signal device for drip-pans.



mfvsonss. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1903.

' v. AYOTTE, JR.

SIGNALDEVIGE FOR DRIP PANS.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4, 1903.

K0 MODEL.

zl/da w I m: NORRIS PETERS co, Pnnroumq. WASHINGTON. n c

UNITED STATES Patented June 9, 1903.

VICTOR AYOTTE, JR, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

SIGNAL DEVICE FOR DR'lP-PANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,733, dated June 9, 1903 Application filed March 4, 1903 To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR AYoTTE,'Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing atProvidence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhodelsland, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Signal Devices for Drip- Pans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to signal devices for drip pans and the like, and particularly adapted for use in connection wit-h a refrigerator.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective electrical controlled means for actuating a signal to indicate when the drip-pan under an ice-box or refrigerator becomes filled with drip-water and it is necessary to empty the same to obviate an overflow and to embody in such means a positively-operating assemblage of elements having adjustable features to adapt the improved means to be conveniently arranged in operative relation to a drip-pan when the latter is empty and remove from such pan when it becomes filled with drip water to a certain level in order that the pan may be withdrawn from its operative position in relation to the refrigerator or ice-box for relieving it of its contents.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

1n the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved alarm means or mechanism shown applied to a drip-pan, which'is illustrated in section. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of a part of the means or apof the box or casing are binding-posts 3, to which the terminals of a bell or signal cir- Serial No. 146,153. (No model.)

\ cuit 4 are adapted to be connected, as clearly shown by Fig. 1, and including in the present instance a bell 5, though it is obvious that other signal means might be equally well employed without departing from the spirit of the invention. ing-post 3 is, a conducting-wire 6, leading to one electrode of the battery 2, and-attached to the remaining electrode of said battery is a conducting-wire '7. Through the other binding-post 3 a conducting-wire 8 is attached, and the wires? and 8 have considerable length and are loosely disposed within the box or casing 1 for a purpose which will presently appear.

ing-yoke 9, through which one leg 10 of a rigid tubular support 11 is adjustably mounted, said leg loosely depending through the top of the box or casing 1 and having a stop-flange 2 on its lower end. The remaining leg 13 of the support 11 is arranged parallel to the leg 10, the said support being preferably constructed of a piece of pipe ofsuitable length bent into substantially U-shaped form. The lower end of the leg 13 is tightly closed by a washer or analogous device 14, which also forms a stop for a float 15, loosely mounted on said leg. Above the float 15 a regulator 16 is adjustably mounted on the leg 13 and consists of a non-conducting block 17, having a pair of depending contact-points 18 adjacent to the opposite ends thereof. The wires 7 and 8 are threaded through the support 11 and exit from the latter through openings 19 at diametrically opposite points, the one Wire being secured to the upper headed portion of one contact-point 18 and the other wire to the similar part of the opposite contact-point. Transversely embracing the body 17 is a metallic wear-strip 20, having a clamping-screw 21 projecting through one end thereof and the adjacent'portion of the block to impinge against the leg 13 of the support. The wires 7 and 8 are of such length that the leg 10 may be adjusted vertically to any extent within the box or casing 1, and the regulator 16 may also for like reasons be'adjusted upwardly and downwardly on the leg 13 to increase or decrease the distance between the contactpoints 18 and the washer 1 1 to regulate the rise and fall of the float 15. The float 15 has Secured to one bind- On one endof the box or casing 1 is a clamp- ICO an upper metallic disk 22 secured thereto, and when said disk comes in contact with the points 18 the circuit, including the battery and the hell 5, is closed, and said bell is actuated to give forth a signal and indicate that the drip-pan with which the device is placed in operative relation has become filled with dripwater.

It is proposed to arrange the box or casing 1, with its adjustable support 11, under a refrigerator or ice-box in close proximity to the outlet of a drip-pipe and to dispose under the latter a pan of suitable depth, as illustrated by Fig. 1. The hell 5 may be located at a distance from the refrigerator orice-box within a household and in such position that its sound can be readily heard. In setting the improved device the regulator '16 is adjusted on the leg 13 of the support and proportionately to the depth of the drip-pan and at such elevation that the contact-point 18 will be engaged by the disk 22 on the float when the water shall have arrived at such elevation in the pan as to be a considerable distance below the rim of the latter. When the pan becomes filled and the float rises and gives the signal, an attendant will remove the support from the pan by adjusting the same vertically and relieve said pan of its contents and afterward reset the apparatus, as shown by Fig. 1. The support 11 Will be positively held in its vertically-adjusted position by the clamping-yoke 9 thereof, and in removing the leg 13 from the drip-pan the leg 10 will be released or permitted to move loosely in the clamping-yoke and the box or casing 1.

Changes in the form, proportions, and minor details may be resorted to without (leparting from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. In an alarm device of the class set forth, the combination of an electrical circuit including a signal and a battery, and wires loosely continuing from said circuit, a vertically-adjustable tubular support of inverted- U-shaped form and through which the said wires are loosely threaded and having exit at a point opposite their point of entrance into the support, a contact device adjustably mounted on a portion of the support adjacent to the point where the said wires exit therethrough and having a pair of separated contact-points to which terminals of the said wires are connected, and a float loosely mounted on .the same portion of the support below the regulator and having means for completing the circuit by engagement with the said contact-points.

2. An alarm device of the class set forth, comprising an electrical circuit including a signal, a vertically-adjustable tubular support having wires included in the said circuit loosely threaded therethrough and passing out therefrom, a contact device adjustably mounted on a member of the support through which the wires exit and having contact means to which said wires are secured, and a float on the same member of the support having the said contactdevice thereon and provided with means for closing the circuit by contact with a portion of the contact device to thereby actuate the signal.

3. An alarm device of the class, set forth, comprising an electrical circuit, including a signal and a battery together with connectingwires, a casing in which the battery is mounted, a tubular U-shaped support having one leg freely adjustable in the upper portion of the casing, a portion of the wires being passed through the said support and entering the leg within the casing and passing from the support to the opposite leg, said wires being of such length as to compensate for adjustment of the support, a contact device adjustably mounted on the leg of the support at a distance from the casing and having depending contact-points to which the wires, threaded through the support, are attached, and a float freely movable on the leg of the support having the contact device thereon, said float being provided with means for engaging the contact-points inclosing the circuit to actuate the signal.

4. An alarm device of the class set forth, comprising an electrical circuit including a signal and battery, and wires leading therefrom, a vertically-adjustable support engaged by the said wires, circuit-terminals adjustably mounted on the support, and a float on the support'below the circuit-terminals having means for engaging said terminals and closing the circuit to actuate the signal device.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' VICTOR AYOTTE, Jn.

Witnesses:

VICTOR AYOTTE, Sr., JoHN B. BESSETTE. 

